The Simpsons - Page 3

It might just be me, but I have to imagine that for a lot of people my age, it's still a little surprising to see Bongo's commitment to producing kid-friendly Simpsons comics. Pleasantly surprised, you understand, but still, I remember being a kid when that show started, and I have fond memories of both the parental outcry about how the Simpsons were actively destroying family values and the truly hilarious explosion of bootleg merchandise that followed its initial popularity. And yet, here we are, with a long-running line of comics that uses some of the most popular characters in any medium of the last quarter century to tell stories directed squarely at younger readers, and does it with a consistently high level of quality.

The latest offering: The Wonderful World of Lisa Simpson #1, a one-shot anthology of stories focusing on the Simpsons' often beleaguered middle child, told by a roster of all-star creators, mostly women, and it is great.

A new episode of The Simpsons will air tomorrow, in its usual 8 p.m. EST time slot. But before that Fox will air "Bart The Lover," the memorable season three episode, in honor of Marcia Wallace, the voice of Edna Krabappel who passed away last week at the age of 70.

Emmy-winning veteran actress Marcia Wallace has passed away, due to complications from breast cancer. In 1972, Wallace became a part of television history when she was cast to play Carol Kester, the joke-loving receptionist to Dr. Robert Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show. It was a breakout role for the actress, but to an entire generation of television viewers Wallace will forever be remembered as Edna Krabappel, Bart Simpson's cynical, sarcastic, and largely unlucky in love fourth grade teacher on The Simpsons.

In yet another moment clearly meant to remind you that you are no longer young, The Simpsons is about to air it's 24th "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween special. Any current or lapsed fan of the show is familiar with a few of the traditions that go into the annual episode, including the altered opening and horror-inspired Couch Gag. The theme continues this year, and this time the producers of the show brought on Guillermo del Toroto create the opening. Just under three minutes long, the animation features guest appearances by a few comic characters, as well as a nod to Futurama, and some inspiration from Mad magazine and former Hellboy artist and frequent del Toro collaborator Guy Davis.

If you have ever dreamed about drinking a Flaming Moe at Moe's Tavern or having a for-real Krusty Burger, you can go get one in The Simpsons' apparent home state of... Florida?

That's right: Universal Studios Orlando has a fully realized Springfield. There's even an Android's Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop (which assuredly sells Bongo Comics). So stifle your annoyed grunts (that's Simpsons script-speak for "d'oh") and check out all the images and video of the new attraction putting the "Spring" in "Springfield" after the cut.

We all know that bananas and banana peels are excellent sources of potassium and physical comedy, respectively, but did you know that they could also be used as a medium for art that will alternately amuse you and haunt you to your grave? Neither did I until I saw the work of Japanese "banana engraver"Keisuke Yamada, who has carved presumably edible versions of all manner of pop culture figures and/or mind-bending horrors.

Check out a few of our favorites -- including characters from Attack on Titan, The Simpsons, Alien, Transformers, Castle in the Sky and Star Wars -- below, and don't worry: If one of these pops up in your breakfast tomorrow, you can always defend yourself with Yamada's flintlock pistol. The flintlock pistol is also carved from a banana.

The town of Springfield has conquered almost every medium: TV, video games, film, comics, home video, books, t-shirts, radio (if you have The Simpsons on while you look away from the TV), figure skating, etc.

And yet Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of Springfield's denizens hadn't made the jump to that all-important mode of expression, the Lego set, until now.

I doubt any sitcom in television history has employed as many movie references as The Simpsons, or been as clever about it. It's been a staple of the series throughout its run, and catching as many of them as possible is a bit of an obsession for some, including Bryan Menegus, who did us all the wonderful favor of cutting together every movie reference from the first five seasons of The Simpsons into one video. You can watch the whole video after the cut, but I should say that it's about 20 minutes long and pretty much impossible to stop watching once you've started. You've been warned.

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